Selling Estate Jewelry – Helpful Tips on Valuing Estate Jewelry

Are you interested in selling estate jewelry? If you have inherited some jewelry or if you just have a bunch of used gold jewelry that you are wanting to turn a quick profit on, there are several things that you should consider before you sell your jewelry. You might have even found some jewelry at an estate sale or a yard sale and are wondering how you can turn a quick profit where someone has overlooked its real value. Hopefully I can point you in the right direction so that you can get the most money.

How do you determine the value of your estate jewelry?

Obviously, you should sort through all of the jewelry to determine if it is made of precious metal or not. A lot of your estate jewelry is probably costume or fake jewelry. Large gaudy stones are usually a dead giveaway on determining if the jewelry is genuine or not. This type of jewelry has some inherent value, but usually not a whole lot. You might consider selling the costume jewelry on an online auction site.

The next thing to do is to give your estate jewelry the magnet test. Simply take a magnet and pass it across the jewelry. Some of the jewelry that is not made of precious metal will stick to the magnet. Again, these pieces probably don’t have a lot of value.

Now that you have sorted through most of the pieces, take a close look at the jewelry to see if it has a hallmark stamp somewhere on the piece. The hallmark for gold will be the karat stamp. The karat stamp will usually be on the inside of rings, on the clasp of necklaces and bracelets, or on the post of earrings. The karat stamp will be 10k, 14k, or 18k. The higher the karat, the more valuable it is. Silver will usually be marked with “sterling” or “sterling silver”. If you have any stones that look like they may be diamonds, take those to a jeweler to have them inspected.

Now that you have sorted out the jewelry that is real, you are halfway there. These types of pieces are where the real value lies in estate jewelry. Most people have no idea how much value there is in their gold and silver jewelry, so you need to make sure that you do your research before you sell any of it.

So where can you sell your estate jewelry for the most money?